The Auckland Castle

Last fall I happened to visit Auckland Castle in the company of some old friends who paid me a visit. Although I have lived in North Yorkshire since I graduated from college, I had never been to Auckland castle before but my visitors convinced me to accompany them there as they toured the place. I had never thought that I would have an amazing experience until then.

It was sometimes in November last year when we decided to visit the place. As we entered the grounds which were nicely kept and I could feel that the place was going to be exciting. There must have been many visitors at the place that day because the parking lot was almost full. We found a place to park near the castle and proceeded to buy our tickets.

Great Exhibitions and Paintings

In the company of a very lovely and knowledgeable guide, we started touring the castle. Everything about it was quiet amazing but what did fascinate me the most was the Plots and Spangles exhibition. Getting to know about the embroidery vestments of Helena Wintour was like watching an adventurous classical movie.

It was amazing to learn about this lady who lived in the over three centuries ago decided to dedicate her life to the service of God after her after her father and two uncles were executed while she was barely six years old. Her embroidery works and the service to the Catholic Church was a very insightful piece of information which almost made me shed tears.

The guide then took us through the gigantic chapel of St Peter and then to the Throne Room where I was also amazed by the various collections of various paintings of the bishops who have served in the chapel. The guide was very informative as he told us about the various inspirations of the painting before taking us to the next room where I came to learn about another great Spanish painter who lived in the 17th century –Francisco de Zurbaran.

The Binchester Roman Fort

After about two hours we were done with the visit at the castle and we decided to spend our mid afternoon at the surrounding gardens. The scene was quiet spectacular and as we walked through the gardens, ramparts and along the moats and wells. However, since we visited the place during fall, it was a bit muddy and we felt uncomfortable walking around. We decided to leave the place and tour area around Bishop.

We drove off as we tried to figure out where to visit next in the area. We were glad to get advice from a lovely local who suggested that we tour Binchester Roman Fort. There we too met a lovely guide who took us through the gigantic Roman fort. It was really fascinating as we walked in the footsteps of Roman legionaries and alongside the original cobbled surface of Deer Street. It was amazing learning about the carved beast of Binchester, the skull in the stone and much more. We also loved the preserved military baths and I did commend the management for doing such a great job.

By the time we were done with the tour, we realized that evening was fast approaching and we decided to head back home. On our way we shared the thoughts of the tours that we had made that day and we all agreed that it was a beautiful day well spent.